Etymology

lichen

L1I1C3H4E1N1

Today it means: Any of many symbiotic organisms, being associations of algae and fungi, often found as white or yellow-to-blue–green patches on rocks, old walls, etc. Full definition →

Latin līchēn ← Ancient Greek λειχήν
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromλειχήν
  2. Latin · borrowed fromlīchēn
  3. English todaylichen

Borrowed from Latin līchēn, from Ancient Greek λειχήν (leikhḗn), from λείχω (leíkhō, “to lick”). Originally used of liverwort; the modern sense first recorded 1715.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.